Rural lessons remembered

Patty Schmidling grew up in a big family on a farm outside of Leavenworth. Even though she had four sisters and a brother, there was always plenty of work.

"We did the wheat and the corn and we had our own garden, a huge garden," Schmidling said. "We plucked our own chickens and all of that; we had pigs : we milked cows."

She left her farm duties long ago and is now manager of Condotels, 801 W. Eisenhower Rd., but she still remembers the lessons she learned living outside city limits.

"I was a country girl," Schmidling said. "I wish my kids could have grown up in that kind of environment because it's totally different. You learn how to be a hard worker, and you learn to love earning money. : You enjoy life a lot more living in the country."

Now she enjoys a different aspect of her life: her son, Keith, and daughter, Lindsay.

"For so many years, I was working so hard and they just grew up so fast, and now it's kinda like they do so much on their own that now I have to try to find time to spend time with them. So that time is very, very special," Schmidling said. "We have a lot of good days."

Before coming to work for Condotels, Schmidling worked in many fields gathering experience and searching for that perfect job.

"I've worked for the school system, I worked at the country club, I worked up on post, I worked at the hospital," she said. "I've kinda been everywhere."

The past few years, however, Schmidling has felt a calling to a job that she may never get to try.

"If I had it to all do over again, I would have definitely gone into the medical field."

Name: Patty Schmidling

Address: 801 W. Eisenhower Road

Occupation: General manager, Condotels

Graduate of: High school

Family: Two children, daughter Lindsay, 17, and son Keith, 22.

How long have you lived in Lansing and what brought you here? Four years - moved from Leavenworth.

What do you like most about Lansing? Growing community

What do you do for fun? Spending time with my son and daughter and their friends.

What would surprise people about you? Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.

What's the best advice you ever received? You only live life once so live it to the fullest.

What organizations or clubs do you belong to? Newly appointed to the city's Convention and Tourism Committee.